


A Different Sort of Friendship

by orphan_account



Series: Better than the Best (Friends) [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Growing Up, High School, Kid Fic, Little Scott, M/M, Middle School, Off-screen Character Death, Romantic Friendship, little stiles, unusual friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 19:16:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1358806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott and Stiles are inseparable from the moment they meet at the start of fifth grade. Their friendship is a little different from other people's... They share baths and cuddle all the time. As they get older they start kissing too, and yeah, by sixteen they are sleeping together. But who cares? They're clearly just <i>better</i> at being best friends than everyone else. (Series incomplete, story should be able to stand alone.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Sort of Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this story contains explicit, consensual sex between minors. Their age is not specified, but they are in sophomore year at the time, so they are 15 or 16. The story also starts when Claudia Stilinski is alive, and it is her off-screen death I have tagged for. 
> 
> Beta'd by my invaluable [holesinthesky](http://theresholesinthesky.tumblr.com) and the lovely [dr-assbutt](http://dr-assbutt.tumblr.com/) took me through the fascinating journey of Americanising the fic. Thanks lovelies!

Stiles is pretty sure that fifth grade is going to be the best year of his entire life. It’s the last year of elementary school, so he’s finally top dog. He’s ready to rule the school. This year is the year that Lydia Martin is finally going to notice him. They’ll be walking out of class one day, and she’ll be frowning over her math homework and he’ll come up to her and offer to help. She’ll roll her eyes and he’ll look down at the mess of symbols and ask what’s the problem.

“I’ve accidentally invented time travel,” she’ll say. “Well, theoretically.”

They’ll grow close as he helps her keep this information from the wrong hands. It will mean using all the skills and techniques he’s gained from watching his dad. 

Lydia will kiss him two days before his eleventh birthday and it will be two days of heaven. But then he’ll get his Hogwarts letter and there will be a tense month and three days while Lydia is still ten and might be a muggle. They’ll make the most of their time together, of course, but it will be there, hanging over them. 

“Watch it, loser!” Jackson says, shoving Stiles over and jerking him out of his daydream. He’d been wandering aimlessly, waiting for the first bell to go. Apparently Jackson Whittemore has somewhere more important to be and the only way to get there had been through Stiles.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get between you and the mirror!” Stiles calls back after him. Okay, so it’s not his best comeback ever, but Jackson has thrown him into the concrete steps and he hurts everywhere. Not crying every time he gets injured is a skill he’s long since honed, so he just sits there, not crying even though he sort of wants to. Instead, he inspects his grazed hands, rubs his hip and moves his foot to make sure his ankle isn’t broken.

“Are you okay, man?” A tall, dark haired boy has just jogged over to check on Stiles, all earnest face and concerned eyes.

“Yeah, fine,” Stiles mutters, putting his hands down on the top step and starting to push himself up.

“Woah, careful,” the boy says. He wraps his arm around Stiles’s waist and hoists him up. “Come on, we’ll go sit for a bit. Class doesn’t start for another ten minutes.”

The boy doesn’t let go of Stiles, walking him over to a nearby bench and sitting him down.

“Thanks,” Stiles says, feeling embarrassed, but not wanting to be rude. The boy beams at him.

“I’m glad I could help,” the boy says. He settles down next to Stiles, and throws an arm around Stiles’s shoulder. His other arm comes up to pull Stiles into a hug. The force of it means Stiles has to rest his head on the boy’s shoulder and curl into his chest and it’s absolutely perfect. It feels like getting a hug from his dad after a nightmare or his mom when he has to go to the doctors. It’s warm and comfortable and safe. It makes him hum with contentment, and they sit there for the whole ten minutes before class like this. By the end of it, Stiles realizes he could probably recognize the boy from his smell alone. Laundry detergent, a whiff of his mom’s perfume and what Stiles suspects is disinfectant. It’s also rich, a bit like sweat and a lot like home. They break apart and the boy stands, grabbing Stiles hand and pulling him up and into a simpler hug that only lasts a few moments.

“I’m Scott,” they boy says, holding his hand out. “I’m new.”

“I’m Stiles,” Stiles says, grasping Scott’s hand and shaking it with a grin. “I’m your new best friend.”

Stiles has a really good feeling about fifth grade.

*

It only takes three weeks before Scott and Stiles are inseparable.

“Stiles!” Mrs McCall says, startled to find Stiles in the bathtub with Scott. “Sorry, for a minute there I forgot you lived here, too.”

Stiles grins up at her. “All good, Mrs McCall.”

“Do your parents know you’re here?” Mrs McCall asks.

“Where else would I be?” Stiles says innocently, eyes sparkling with mischief. Mrs McCall sighs, but is unable to hide her smile.

“I’ll give them a ring,” Mrs McCall says. “Scott, I wanted to check you put your muddy clothes in the machine.”

“Yeah Mom,” Scott says. 

“Stiles, I take it you're staying for dinner and then I’ll drop you home?” Mrs McCall asks.

“I could just stay the night,” Stiles says. “Save you the drive.”

“Nice try,” Mrs McCall says. “But it’s a school night.”

Mrs McCall leaves and Scott pokes Stiles, grinning at him. He’s always impressed with how much Stiles tries to get away with around his mom, and a little amazed at how easily his mom sees through it. Stiles grabs Scott’s shoulders and tries to shove him under the water. The tub’s too small to fit one of them sitting up and one lying down, so Stiles ends up sprawled over Scott. They roll around, gasping and shouting and getting water everywhere until Mrs McCall comes back to chase them out. 

*

Their friendship’s a little different from other people's, and Scott and Stiles sort of know this. The first time Scott gets one hundred percent on a spelling test, Stiles grins at him, giving him a smacking kiss on the check and yanking him into a hug. Scott had waited until they got home tell Stiles. He knew that Stiles was always more enthusiastic about showing his excitement when they were alone. Stiles’s reaction made Scott feel better than even his teacher’s scrawled, 'Well done, Scott! A great improvement!' accompanied by a bright sticker. It felt a nice as his dad patting him on the shoulder and saying, “Keep up the good work, son.” Almost as good as his mom’s bright smile and insistence that they get take-out to celebrate.

It’s not important that they’re different from other friends, even other best friends. Scott and Stiles are clearly just better at being friends than other people. Stiles thinks it would suck to have a friend who gave crappy hugs, the kind you didn’t want to just melt into for hours. Scott’s too happy to let their difference worry him.

The Stilinskis and the McCalls have talked about it, but they don’t have a good frame of reference for what’s going on. Stiles has never made friends before, not ones he invited home or became particularly attached to. He’s a friendly kid, but more of a class clown than the popular sort. Scott was shy when he was younger, and then too sweet and trusting to know the difference between kids who liked him, and kids who were making fun. This is their first experience with their sons having a best friend, and the boys are much happier kids. Scott’s doing better in school, and Stiles is more grounded.

It’s a little disconcerting how unhappy the boys get when they’re separated for more than a day. Scott cried when Stiles was out of school for two days with a stomach bug, and Stiles wouldn’t talk to anyone the long weekend the McCalls went away. It’s most likely because the friendship is so new. With any luck, they’ll most likely grow out of it soon enough. For now, their parents have decided they’ll just enjoy the benefits and let the kids be.

*

Sometimes being best friends is the greatest feeling in the world. It gives Stiles strength when Jackson decides to pick on him and Scott confidence when he’s called up to do a problem on the board. It means always having a spot to sit in the cafeteria for lunch and never worrying about having a buddy for field trips. It means being happy in a way neither boy really knew existed.

But sometimes even best friends can't fix anything.

*

“Stiles,” Stiles’s dad says. He sounds like he’s choking. Stiles looks up from where he was wrestling with Scott, taking in his father’s rumpled clothes, his lined face.

“No,” Stiles says. His lip trembles. He can feel his throat closing over and his eyes welling up with tears. A sob escapes despite his best efforts, and he swallows hard, standing up and backing away from his father. “No, no, no.”

“Scott,” Scott’s mom whispers from behind Stiles’s dad, gesturing desperately at Scott. 

Scott looks at Stiles, not sure what to do. It seems wrong to move away from Stiles when he’s so clearly upset. They’ve only been friends for five months, but it already feels like a lifetime. Group projects, missed homework, detention for fighting with Jackson, trying to get Lydia’s attention, asthma attacks, sleepovers. In five months, Scott and Stiles have built their lives around each other. Scott whispering to Stiles in the night about his parents fighting, Stiles worrying about his mother’s health. When Mrs Stilinski was diagnosed, when they found she was dying, Scott had been allowed to stay over even though it was a weeknight. Stiles had cried in his arms all night. 

Scott’s pretty sure Mrs Stilinski has died, and he doesn’t know what to do. 

“Scott, Stiles’s dad needs him right now,” his mother adds. 

Scott looks at Mr Stilinski and he looks broken. That settles it for Scott, he can’t deny Mr Stilinski Stiles at a time like this. So Scott reaches out to grab Stiles’s hand, pulling him into a hug, and kissing his cheek before taking him over to his father. As soon as Mr Stilinski’s hand brushes Stiles’s cheek, Stiles’s throws himself at his dad. He wraps his arms and legs around his dad, clinging to him in a way he hasn’t needed to in years. Mr Stilinski holds him tightly. He doesn’t seem to notice the weight of his eleven year old son, just breathes him in. Mrs McCall leads Scott out of the room, and they spend the next few hours doing housework and cooking some meals for the Stilinski men. 

It’s late when Stiles and his dad stumble home again, and Mrs McCall has long since tucked Scott up in Stiles’s bed. She goes to wake him up, but Stiles tugs childishly at her shirt and begs her to leave him.

“It’s fine,” Stiles’s dad says. “It’ll be good for him to not be alone.”

Mrs McCall looks like she wants to say something, but swallows it. “I’ll come over in the morning to take him to school.”

Stiles kisses his dad on the cheek and trudges upstairs.

*

“I keep forgetting she’s dead,” Stiles says, a week later. They’re lying stretched out on the grass in Stiles’s backyard, sides pressed together, fingers tangled. “I go to tell her something, try to figure out where she is, and then it hits me. She’s not anywhere. She’s gone.”

Scott squeezes Stiles’s hand, rolling over until he’s able to pull Stiles into a hug. He’s not good with words, not like Stiles is. All he can do is hold him when he cries, and sometimes cry along with him. Sometimes it helps and that’s all he can wish for.

*

Middle school is a strange time for both Scott and Stiles. Half of the kids start puberty long before the rest. Boys shoot up, voices breaking awkwardly. Girl’s round out with hips and breasts. They bemoan pimples, and suddenly who wants to kiss who is of utmost importance. Scott gets a few growth spurts and Stiles doesn’t, leaving them oddly mismatched. Jackson decides he’s too cool to waste time picking on Scott and Stiles, which suits them just fine. Scott starts noticing girls in their class. Stiles might agree with his assessment on which girls are cute, but his heart still belongs to Lydia.

By thirteen, they don’t seem to have grown out of the little habits their parents had thought strange at ten. Sleepovers still mean bed sharing. They still hold hands when the mood strikes them, cuddling up on the couch when they watch movies. Stiles’s dad is convinced it has something to do with losing Claudia. Scott’s parents have other, more pressing concerns. Nothing is said to either boy. They continue on, blissfully unaware that their bottomless need for physical contact is causing anyone concern. 

These years are a time for change. Stiles shaves his head and Scott starts to make plans.

*

“Baseball,” Stiles says dubiously. Scott gives him a winning smile.

“It’ll be great,” Scott says. “Try-outs are in two weeks, so we have plenty of time to practice. My dad used to play when he was younger, he said it’s really good for making friends and getting in shape and learning to become a man. Plus, Lydia likes baseball, so she’ll come and watch the games and you can impress her and she’ll totally want to go out with you.”

“Okay, two problems with your plan,” Stiles says. “One, Lydia likes Jackson, not baseball. And two, me embarrassing myself in front of a crowd hasn’t really managed to impress anyone so far.”

Scott shoves a baseball glove into Stiles’s hand. “You won’t embarrass yourself. Come on, we’ll just practice throwing the ball for a bit, and then tomorrow Dad said he’d show us how to bat.”

It’s strange to hear Scott talk about his dad so enthusiastically. Normally Scott doesn’t even bring him up and from what Stiles has seen, his dad just isn’t very interested in Scott. Stiles knows Mr and Mrs McCall have been fighting a lot lately, and Scott came over furious one day after he had found his mother crying. Scott never gets angry, not ever. Stiles flares up over little things all the time. Teachers, Jackson, stubbing his toe, missing an episode of a television show. It doesn’t take much to set Stiles off, but he cools down quickly and doesn’t hold grudges. This had been different and it hurt to see Scott so mad. All Stiles could do was listen and sympathize and tackle him, wrestling and rolling around with him until Scott calmed down.

If baseball is going to make Scott so excited about his dad, Stiles has no choice but to go along with the doomed scheme.

“Let’s get this party started, then,” Stiles says, taking the glove and jogging away from Scott. When he turns back, Scott is beaming at him and Stiles grins back.

They don’t make the team, which neither boy particularly minds. He doesn’t say anything, but Scott is mostly upset that his dad never did show them how to play the game. He didn’t even show up to their try-out. But Stiles’s dad says he is proud of them, and Scott’s mom takes them out for ice cream. Stiles informs him Scott now has to try out for the chess club, as payback, and Scott lets go of his disappointment. He’ll know better for next time.

*

Scott’s a little disheartened that his baseball plan didn’t lead to popularity. Or Stiles winning over Lydia. Or Scott being told not to worry about math because he’s clearly destined for greater things. It doesn’t stop him from moving on to his next project, though. He's going to convince his parents to let him have a television in his room. Then getting an Xbox for a birthday/Christmas present will follow naturally.

“That’s a great plan,” Stiles says, when Scott tells him. “And then I bet my dad will let me get one, too. Even if it’s only so I come home occasionally, because I will obviously be moving into your room if you get an Xbox there.”

Scott grins at him and gets to work.

*

The television plan is worse than the baseball plan. All Scott’s parents seem to have to say on the matter is, “Not right now, Scott”. That’s all they seem to say about anything, these days. His whole plan had hinged on one of them telling him to ask the other. After that, all he had to do was go to the other and say the first said yes if it’s okay with them. He hadn't expected to be ignored, though, and he doesn't have a back up plan.

*

“How’s the television scheme going?” Stiles asks, a few weeks later. They’re sitting in Stiles’s living room, homework spread over the coffee table. They hadn't really been working on it, though. Scott was on edge, and Stiles had been trying to be quiet for long enough to get Scott talking. 

“My parents are getting divorced,” Scott says.

It’s not the answer Stiles had expected, but the news doesn’t surprise him. He isn’t quite sure how Scott feels about it, and he can’t work out how to react. Scott just seems confused.

“Yeah?” Stiles says, falling back on physical contact to help him out. That’s what had helped the most when he lost his mother, and it’s instinct to hold Scott when he’s hurt. An arm around Scott’s shoulder is all it takes before Scott is melting into him with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Scott says. “I know I’m meant to be upset or angry or scared that they don’t love me, or whatever, but I’m sort of glad.” Scott buries his face into Stiles’s shoulder. It’s only because Scott is so close that Stiles can understand his muffled, “Does that make me a terrible person?”

“No way,” Stiles says firmly. He doesn’t say anything else. There’s a lot he could say, but he doesn’t think it would help Scott to hear Stiles talk about what a douche his dad is. Stiles suspects he already knows. He kisses Scott’s hair and lets Scott bury himself in Stiles. 

*

Scott’s dad gets offered a job in LA, and Stiles isn’t sure if that has anything to do with the divorce, but it makes him grateful for it. Mrs McCall is staying in Beacon Hills, and if they weren’t getting a divorce, it would mean Scott was leaving. The thought makes Stiles feels guilty. He’s spent so long wishing his mother was still alive. The ache of it so familiar he can’t imagine living without it. Yet here he is, glad that Scott’s losing his dad. Except Scott’s dad isn’t dying, and Scott’s dad doesn’t love Scott the way Stiles’s mom loved Stiles. He can’t decide if it’s better to have a great parent who died or a terrible one who lives. Just imagining his mother alive and well, but not interested in loving Stiles makes him feel sick. But he can’t be glad she’s dead. Instead he settles on being glad Scott’s dad is gone and leaving it at that.

*

The boys spend the summer after eighth grade making plans for what high school is going to be like. They manage to be popular and top all their classes and join all the sports teams and go to the best parties. Stiles wins over Lydia and Scott scores all the winning goals in a big sports match. They get drunk together and drive expensive cars. Stiles even has them solving crimes and rescuing the town. It’s a little childish, but Scott loves being the hero, getting to save people.

Somehow, Scott manages to find some people that are starting up a junior boys soccer team and he talks Stiles into trying out with him. The team must be pretty desperate, because they both get accepted after their first try-out. Scott’s determined that they will become brilliant.

“Okay,” Scott calls out. “You dribble it down here and then pass it to me and I’ll kick it in the goal.”

They’ve been practicing for nearly an hour and Stiles is only just getting the hang of running with the ball and not falling on his face. 

Stiles shoots Scott a thumbs up and looks down at the ball between his feet. “You ready to go, buddy?” he asks it. The ball doesn’t respond, but Stiles thinks it’s sending out positive vibes. So he gives it a nudge with his foot and he’s off down the field. It’s something of a shock when the maneuver comes off without a hitch. 

“Did you see that?” Scott calls out, thrilled. Stiles hollers with delight and runs at Scott, pulling him in for a kiss before throwing his arms around him. Scott picks him up, spinning them around. They collapse onto the grass, grinning at each other.

“We may be the greatest soccer players in the world, Scotty,” Stiles says. Scott shoves at his shoulder and kisses him again. 

“Yeah?” Scott says, beaming.

“Oh yeah,” Stiles says.

*

They quit the team when Scott has an asthma attack in their first practice, and Stiles is a little relieved. 

*

High school both is and isn’t what they were expecting. Everything is a much bigger deal in high school. The classes are harder, the cliques are cliquier, teachers talk about college like it’s imminent. Being on a sports team is the pinnacle of human achievement. But there’s still the same old Jackson picking on Stiles. Math is just as bewildering to Scott. Same old lockers and classrooms and the cafeteria. They make it feel like they never left middle school.

*

Over the years, Scott and Stiles have picked up on what normal friends are meant to be like. From this, it's easy to work out that sort of stuff they shouldn't do in front of others. They don't discuss it, or think much about it, but they follow these unwritten rules anyway. They don’t hold hands in public, or let anyone see them kissing, or sit in each other’s laps if other people are in the room. 

Dating in high school is quite different from middle school. There’s less note passing and giggling and awkwardly asking parents for lifts to the movies. Who’s kissed who is no longer hot gossip. Now it’s who’s done what with who. Rumors spread like wildfire. Most of the time it's about what sexual acts people might have done. People kiss in front of lockers like it’s no big deal. Couples spend lunch hours draped all over one another. In fact, a lot of the stuff Scott and Stiles have kept to themselves are just normal elements of PDA for couples. 

But Scott and Stiles aren’t dating. They’re not a couple. They're just friends who hang out, play video games and complain about school. And yeah, they haven’t stopped hugging and kissing and things that only couples do, but it’s different. Scott doesn’t want Stiles to stop spending time with him, but he’d be thrilled if he started dating Lydia. There’s no jealousy when Scott drools over his favorite celebrity, or gets flustered when a pretty girl talks to him. They aren’t just friends, but nor are they a couple. And some of their behavior defies either definition.

By fourteen, Scott and Stiles have stopped sharing baths. It’s largely because they didn’t fit after Scott had a growth spurt, even when he bathed alone. Their parents had also started making noises of surprise when they said they were off for a bath. Apparently sharing baths wasn’t what normal teenage boys do.

But Scott and Stiles started sharing showers, instead. It’s this sort of behavior that doesn’t fit into dating or friendship. Sometimes there’s kissing, and they’re comfortable with each other’s bodies, but it's not a sexual experience. It’s just faster to shower together. It just means they aren’t stuck hanging around for the other to finish before they crawl into bed. Or go out to the movies, or whatever it was they were showering for. 

Scott and Stiles deal with their different relationship the same way they always have: not thinking about it at all. They love what they have and that’s all that matters. 

*

High School Lydia is somehow even more unaware of Stiles’s existence. This fact wouldn’t bother Stiles if it weren’t for Lydia's deepening infatuation with Jackson Whittemore.

It’s a source of contention right from the start of the year, when Lydia snubs Stiles in favor of chasing after Jackson. When Jackson in turn ignores Lydia, Stiles is outraged on her behalf.

For the first few weeks of the year, Stiles and Scott are busy trying to balance their extra workload with their video gaming regime. It isn’t until Lydia and Stiles are assigned to be lab partners that Stiles realizes he has been neglecting his ten year plan to woo Lydia. It’s the first time in years that Stiles has had a proper conversation with Lydia. She even contributes.

“We need to swap lab partners,” Lydia says, looking at him seriously.

“Yeah,” Stiles agrees, trying to sound smooth. “I have to be with Scott.”

“I don’t really care,” Lydia says. Her attention has moved to where Jackson is sitting and flirting with one of the girls in their class. Stiles lets out a shaky breath. He wasn’t prepared for the intensity of Lydia paying attention to him.

To Stiles’s delight, he is now partnered with Scott. Part of his joy stems from the fact that he is working with Scott. After all, bros don’t let bros do science projects alone. But he is also a tiny bit overwhelmed that Lydia was apparently not only listening to him, she then used that information to do him a favor.

*

Once they find their feet, Scott and Stiles start to hatch plans to make their high school years amazing. Scott has them try out for every sports team offered, despite his asthma and Stiles’s complete lack of coordination. Stiles is more focussed on listening in to his dad’s radio and dragging Scott out to watch crime scenes. It’s something he had stopped doing after his mom died, too scared that he would overhear messages about his dad getting hurt.

“Really good one today,” Stiles says as he clambers in through Scott’s window. Scott looks up from where he has been frowning at his English assignment.

“Yeah?” Scott asks, standing up and looking for his shoes.

“‘Loose livestock’,” Stiles says. Scott laughs and they race out of the house, and manage to arrive just in time to see Stiles’s dad get kicked by a sheep. Stiles rides with his dad to the hospital to get it checked out. He is laughing too hard to hear his dad’s questions about why Stiles was there in the first place. Mrs McCall’s on duty when they arrive and she organizes for Stiles’s dad to have a full physical while he's there.

“You can’t keep avoiding them forever,” Mrs McCall says. Stiles’s dad rolls his eyes.

“I’m healthy as a horse,” Stiles’s dad insists.

“Probably,” Mrs McCall says, smiling reassuringly at Stiles. “But I’d like to get that on paper.”

Stiles’s dad is declared healthy, but he’s told to keep an eye on his cholesterol. 

*

Keeping his dad healthy becomes an obsession for Stiles. For weeks he buries himself in research. He starts to take more of an interest in the shopping, swapping out prepackaged meals for fresh ingredients. Neither Stiles nor his dad have any real skill in the kitchen, but it turns out Scott does. On Sundays, Stiles has Scott help him prepare meals for the week, and Scott is glad he can do something to help. Seeing Stiles so upset and stressed makes Scott feel ill. 

While Stiles is planning ways to keep his dad alive for the next fifty years, Scott tries to think of ways to keep Stiles from driving himself crazy with worry. The only things he can really think of involve cuddling and exploring the woods. They aren’t meant to go into the woods, not just the two of them by themselves, so the plan appeals to Stiles immediately. A large area of the woods belong to the Hale family, and Scott and Stiles dare each other to go deeper and deeper into the private land. They never do see any of the Hales, but it distracts Stiles. Stops him from brooding over his thoughts of his dad dying. 

*

Between his dad’s health, Scott distracting him, schoolwork and learning to drive, Stiles completely neglects his plans to win Lydia over. Lydia’s plans to make Jackson fall for her are apparently more successful. At the end of freshman year, Jackson asks Lydia out. By the time Summer is over, she has him wrapped around her little finger. Stiles thinks his life would be much easier if this didn’t make him love her more.

*

“Sophomore year is our year,” Stiles announces when he shows up at Scott’s door on the first day of school. “I’ll be able to drive us to parties and crime scenes. You’re going to pass all your classes. Lydia’s going to fall in love with me. I grew three whole inches over the summer so we might even make it onto the basketball team.”

Scott grins and pulls Stiles into a kiss. His enthusiasm is always infectious, even when he’s just being sarcastic. 

*

Scott and Stiles both do make it onto the basketball team. It’s a short lived victory, however, as the team only has four members and their coach is arrested for tax fraud before they even have their first practice.

Sophomore year is looking like it is going to be a repeat of freshman year. Lydia doesn’t notice Stiles or his extra three inches of height and Scott fails a pop quiz in the first week of school. They don’t make it onto the football team and no interesting crimes come up for them to investigate. The popular kids throw parties they aren’t invited to. 

Somehow, the more things change in Scott and Stiles’s lives, the more things stay the same.

*

Scott is lying stretched out on his bed frowning at a book one Monday afternoon when Stiles comes wandering in. 

“What’cha reading?” Stiles asks, flopping down next to Scott.

“Book for English,” Scott says, sighing and dumping it on his nightstand. Stiles rolls over, onto Scott, pressing a kiss to his chest before turning his head and snuggling in. Right next to his ear, Scott’s heartbeat is loud and steady and soothing. 

“You okay?” Scott asks.

“Just tired,” Stiles says. He is tired, it’s true. He stayed up most of the night clicking through wikipedia pages, but that’s nothing new. The real problem is that Stiles was grounded over the weekend, and that meant two whole days without seeing Scott. Two days without being able to touch him, or kiss him, or wrestle him. Weekends are also the only time the boys get to sleep curled up together in the same bed. To miss one weekend means two whole weeks without any bed sharing, and the thought of it makes his skin itch.

“Yeah,” Scott says. “Me too.”

They lie in silence, Scott massaging Stiles’s head, Stiles tapping out rhythms with his fingers. He’s not restless, just incapable of staying still. Scott has long since learned the difference between and anxious Stiles and a Stiles with excess energy. Stiles shifts, and realizes that Scott is hard beneath him. He’d been vaguely aware of his own erection forming, but had ignored it. There weren’t enough hours in the day for him to leave the room every time he popped a boner, and so he’d just learned to deal with it. They usually went away on their own soon enough. Scott had let out a small noise of pleasure when Stiles’s hip had brushed against him, and Scott felt pretty nice under Stiles. So Stiles crawled up Scott until he could nuzzle his face into Scott’s neck and line their dicks ups.

The pressure and friction that Stiles creates by rubbing their hips together is nice, but it's hindered by layers of denim. Scott must notice this issue at the same time as Stiles, as their hands snake down together. They fumble with buttons and zips, shoving denim away until all that separated them was two thin layers of cotton. This time when Stiles shifts up and down, Scott rolls his hips beneath him. The sensation is almost overwhelming, making both boys gasp and groan in response. They move together roughly, lacking rhythm and finesse, but soon enough Stiles is coming, moaning and mouthing at Scott’s neck. Scott is still hard beneath him, so Stiles grinds down until he grows too sensitive. He shifts over, pressing his thigh against Scott’s dick. Scott ruts into Stiles and grasps Stiles’s shirt as he comes. 

They lie together, sticky and content. It's only when they realize that Scott's mom will be home soon that the drag themselves into the shower. It doesn't matter what sort of relationship Scott and Stiles have. None of them include letting a parent walk in on them when they had clearly just had sex.

*

Lacrosse is easily the most important sport at Beacon Hills High, and about the only one they can guarantee won’t dissolve due to lack of interest. Scott decides they need to focus all their efforts on training for it now, so they will be ready for tryouts at the start of junior year.

“Remember that time we tried out for baseball and I ended up with a concussion?” Stiles says. “And that time we tried out for soccer and you nearly died in our first practice? Or just last year, when we were laughed off the field trying out for, what was it?”

“Lacrosse,” Scott says. He doesn’t seem at all disheartened by Stiles’s reaction. “It’ll be fine, I’ve been reading up on it.”

Stiles sighs and throws his arm around Scott, walking with him to his jeep. “The things I do for you, man,” Stiles says. Scott grins and bumps their hips together.

*

“Good morning Scotty!” Stiles says, walking across Scott’s room to open the curtains one morning. There’s an answering moan and Scott pulls his sheets over his head. “Up and at ‘em, tiger!”

Scott flips back his covers, and buries his head under the pillow. He knows there’s something wrong when Stiles doesn’t crawl into bed with him.

“Stiles, it’s,” Scott lifts his pillow, squinting at the alarm clock. “Nine AM on a Saturday.”

“My dad woke me to give me a sex talk,” Stiles says. Scott laughs.

“Come to bed and tell me where babies come from,” Scott says, yawning. Stiles throws a box at him.

“The safe sex talk,” Stiles says. “I already know all about the stork visiting the cabbage patch.”

The box, Scott discovers, contains condoms. Feeling a lot more awake, Scott sits up and looks at Stiles.

“Your dad gave you these?” Scott asks, shocked. “I think my mom would have a heart attack if she even saw me in the same room as a condom.”

“He gave me this, too,” Stiles says, tossing Scott a bottle of lubricant.

“Wait, does your dad think you’re gay?” Scott asks. Stiles shudders.

“No,” Stiles says. “Apparently not all women… lubricate as well as others.”

“Oh,” Scott says. He wrinkles his nose. “Ow.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said. “I think my dad was trying to gross me out enough that I would never want to have sex again.”

“Do you?” Scott asks, sounding almost shy, glancing between the box in his hand and Stiles.

“Still want to have sex?” Stiles confirms. Scott nods and Stiles toes off his shoes before crawling into bed with him. “Yeah.”

They grin at each other and Stiles kisses Scott before pulling off his shirt. Once they’re both naked, Stiles grabs the lubricant and gives Scott a questioning look.

“Can I…” Stiles says. He licks his lips and swallows hard. “I kind of want to be the one… I want to be inside you.”

Scott looks down at Stiles’s half-hard dick and back up at Stiles. He nods. “Yeah, I want that too. This time, at least.”

“Do you want me to-” Stiles holds up the bottle and wiggles his fingers. At Scott’s nod, Stiles squirts a generous amount of lubricant onto his fingers and then looks down at Scott. “Maybe you should roll onto your side?”

They resettle themselves so Scott is lying on his side, facing away from Stiles, who curls up behind him, propped up on his elbow. Stiles runs his fingers down Scott’s crack, gently probing at the puckered skin. It strikes him that for the first time in years, Stiles is going to get to learn a new part of Scott’s body. 

“All right there, Scotty?” Stiles asks cheerfully. Scott laughs.

“It’s good so far,” Scott says. Stiles kisses the back of Scott’s neck and starts to work his first finger in. 

“That feels weird,” Scott says. His hips shift and then Stiles can feel him clamping down on his finger before releasing them with a laugh. Stiles pulls his finger out and they giggle at the noise it makes. He slathers on more lubricant and manages to get two fingers deep inside Scott.

“I’m going to try for three,” Stiles says. “You gonna need to relax a bit more. Maybe try breathing out?”

Stiles peppers Scott’s neck and shoulders with kisses, murmuring, “Atta boy, Scotty,” as Scott takes a deep breath and lets it out again. So far it’s going easier than Stiles had expected, based on the googling he did before coming over, but he isn’t sure if Scott’s ready to take him yet. Squinting between his dick and Scott’s hole doesn’t help a lot.

“What do you reckon?” Stiles asks. “Ready for phase two?”

Scott laughs, wrigging his hips again. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Right,” Stiles says. He takes out his fingers and pulls out a condom, making a mental note to do this part first next time. “Okay, I’m going to line up Stiles Junior, and then you can push back onto it. That’s meant to be the best way to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Scott turns and looks at Stiles over his shoulder. “You put a lot of thought into this,” Scott says.

“Couldn’t you tell?” Stiles says. “Wasn’t it obvious by my excellent seduction?”

“You threw a box of condoms and some lube at me,” Scott says, laughing.

“Works every time,” Stiles says. He frowns, mock thoughtful. “Maybe that’s what I should try next time Lydia walks past.”

Scott rolls his eyes and Stiles is grinning as he leans in to kiss him. Stiles reaches around to stroke Scott, relieved to find he is still hard.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Scott says softly, putting his hand over Stiles’s and squeezing.

Stiles moves his hand up so he can take hold of Scott’s hip and he pushes into Scott. He stops once the head of his dick is trapped in the first ring of muscle.

“Deep breath,” Stiles says, stroking up and down Scott’s side. Scott makes a small noise of distress as he moves backwards, Stiles’s dick sliding inside him. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Stiles says. “Do you need more preparation?”

“Nah,” Scott grunts. “I’m just trying to relax.”

Stiles slides his hand down until it is resting roughly over Scott’s diaphragm. “Breathe deep,” Stiles says.

Scott takes another deep breath in, and as he lets it out, Stiles blows a raspberry on Scott’s shoulder blade. It startles Scott, but then he is laughing and Stiles starts to jerk him off again, his whole body relaxing. This time, when Scott moves back, he moans with pleasure. Coming before he gets all the way into Scott is becoming a serious concern for Stiles, but they manage.

Stiles wraps his arms around Scott and they lie in silence, not moving as they get used to the sensation.

To his surprise, it takes Stiles back to when he was ten years old and Scott held him for the very first time. They’ve had years of experiencing that feeling of rightness when they are together. That sense of home when they hold each other. It’s strange, not because this feels different, but because Stiles wasn’t expecting to find it here. It’s that feeling of being complete magnified ten time over, and it feels so very, very right.

“Scotty,” Stiles gasps. “Can I just say here forever?”

“My mom finishes at two,” Scott says.

“Then can I stay here until two?” Stiles says. Scott pushes himself back further into Stiles, holding tightly onto his arms.

“Yeah,” Scott says. He lets out a shuddery breath, and Stiles can almost feel the contentment radiating off him. “Please do.”

They lie together until the itch to move, to thrust and to come is too much to ignore. It takes them a few goes to work out how to move together, but they find a rhythm, Stiles jerking Scott in long smooth strokes as he slides in and out of him.

“I think I’m gonna come soon,” Scott says, in what feels like no time at all.

“It’s meant to be better if I come first,” Stiles manages to pant out. His hand stills on Scott’s dick, and shifts into faster, shallower thrusts. As he feels his orgasm rise up, he starts jerking Scott again, and they come, one after another, in a haze of pleasure.

Stiles carefully pulls himself out of Scott before he softens, scared the condom might get stuck inside Scott if he waits. Once the condom has been dealt with, he clambers over Scott so they can lie facing one another.

“You okay?” Stiles asks, searching Scott’s face for any signs of pain or discomfort. Scott pulls Stiles in close, throwing his legs over Stiles and kissing him.

“No,” Scott says. “I don’t know why we can’t just live inside each other.”

Stiles rolls Scott unto his back, hoping gravity will squash them together further.

“I dunno, man,” Stiles says. “It might be kind of awkward. I mean, we don’t have all the same classes for a start. And then there’s the issue of pooping…”

“Gross,” Scott says, laughing and loosening his hold on Stiles.

*

“I need a job,” Scott says, frowning at the newly smashed screen on his phone. “I think someone said there was one going at the vet?”

“I think you need to focus on passing math first,” Stiles says. “I don’t want to lose you to summer school.”

Scott sighs. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Stiles pulls out his math book and they start to go through the term’s work. It’s hours later before they finish, and Stiles flops onto his bed, exhausted. Scott frowns at the page of equations they have just done, the writing blurring in front of his eyes.

“C’mere,” Stiles says, yawning and patting the bed beside him. Scott stretches, rubbing his eyes before crawling onto the bed. He curls up next to Stiles, resting his head on Stiles’s stomach. Stiles’s hands move to settle in Scott’s hair.

Scott’s feeling a little lost and overwhelmed, and he focuses his attention on the soft bulge in Stiles’s pants. Touching Stiles has always helped Scott when he’s feeling miserable or disconnected. He undoes Stiles’s pants and pulls out Stiles’s dick. He holds it, enjoying the weight and warmth of it. His fingers run over it, the touch soft. He’s just exploring the feel of it, not trying to arouse Stiles. Of course, Stiles is a sixteen year old boy whose dick is being played with. He’s stiffening in Scott’s hand, his hips giving an abortive twitch.

“Either jerk me off, or put Stiles Junior away,” Stiles says, sounding fond and amused. Scott looks at Stiles’s dick and runs his hands over it one more time before tucking Stiles away. He shifts up until he is half-lying on Stiles, pressing his face into Stiles’s neck. The scent of Stiles fills his nose, Stiles’s breathing is the only sound he can hear, Stiles’s body the only thing he can feel. Stiles strokes up and down his back, and Scott feels himself calm down and unwind.

It might not make sense to people who aren’t Scott or Stiles, but this friendship works perfectly for them. 

*

In the third last week of the school year, a girl called Allison transfers to Beacon Hill High School.

*

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> This fic is the first part of a series (still being written) exploring the complicated poly negotiations that arise because because Scott and Stiles want to date other people, but find it impossible to be apart. It's a response to one of lolafeist's [prompts](http://lolafeist.tumblr.com/post/79358422749/tw-things-i-want-to-read#notes) (second from the bottom).


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